What Could Be
by jackandsamforever
Summary: Angie wakes up Christmas morning to find that everything has changed. Now she has to determine if that change is for the better. For No-more-pawn for the Motive Secret Santa gift exchange.


**AN: This is part one of two for No-more-pawn for the Motive Secret Santa gift exchange. I'm so sorry I don't have all of it finished, but I've been crazy busy. I hope to have second part up next week. Hope you like it! :)**

**AN2: In this story, Vega's parents are still married to each other.**

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><p>Flynn mumbled a curse into her pillow, annoyed at being woken up so early in the morning. By her estimation, she should have at least another hour of sleep. She didn't know what had disturbed her dreamless sleep, but if it was the neighbor's dog again, she was going to wring its scrawny little neck, then go back to bed.<p>

She strained her ears for a few moments, but didn't hear the little ankle biter's annoying bark. Maybe she really had just woken on her own. It wouldn't be the first time, or the last. She sighed loudly and turned onto her side, pulling her down comforter up to her chin. She was wasting precious sleep worrying about a dog. She was just on the cusp of sleep again when she heard an odd noise. It sounded like a _child._

She shot up, the blanket pooling around her waist as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She had to be hearing things. After the noise didn't repeat, she figured the sound had come from the street. Of course it was only six in the morning, but that was the only explanation she could muster in her drowsy state.

She was just about to lie down again when her bedroom door swung open. She turned and reached for her gun on the nightstand, but it wasn't there. She took her eyes off the dark shadow beginning to move across her bedroom, but she couldn't say anything, her throat had closed off in fear.

Her gun wasn't where it was supposed to be, that never happened. Shit. She flipped her lamp on, shot out of bed to put more space between the person in her room and herself, and turned back to see who it was.

Her jaw dropped when she saw Vega, clad only in flannel pajama pants and nothing else, looking at her in confusion. "Ang, what's wrong?"

She blinked slowly and finally found her voice. "What do you mean, "what's wrong"? What the hell are you doing in my bedroom...dressed like-" She vaguely waved her hand at his nearly naked body, "-that? She finished lamely.

Vega chuckled quietly and slid into the bed and pulled the covers up. "Honey, you must have been dreaming, you're confused."

_Honey_, she mouthed, more confused than ever.

He spoke before she could answer. "Come back to bed and warm me up. I only got up because Jericho needed a drink, but I think it was an excuse. He's excited to see his presents, and he swears he heard Santa, but I managed to coax him back to bed. We might even get a couple more hours of sleep."

She was more confused than ever. Who the hell was Jericho, and why would she get into bed with Vega? What was going on?

As she continued to stare at him with a bewildered look on her face, he finally realized something was really wrong. He stood up and began walking around the bed towards her, a concerned look on his face. She couldn't help but stare at his chest as he came closer; she hadn't ever seen _this _much of him, and she found that she didn't mind the sight all that much. He had the perfect amount of chest hair. Not too hairy, but not hairless either. He also had a scar on his-

Her thoughts were interrupted when he put a hand on each of her shoulders and squeezed lightly. "You're starting to worry me."

She sucked in a breath and tried to take a step away from him, but he held her firmly in place. "I—I..."

She didn't know what to say. He dipped his head so he could look her in the eye. "Talk to me, sweetheart."

"Idon'tknowwhat'sgoingonandIdon'tknowwhyyou'restandinginmybedroombarelydressed," she spat out as quickly as she could.

It took him a few seconds to comprehend what she had said, but when he did, he looked at her with an odd look on his face. "It's Christmas Eve, well Christmas day now, and you're my wife, that's why I'm in _our _bedroom dressed like this. Honestly Angie, what's going on?"

_Wife? Oh, hell._ She shook her head and winced. "I'm serious, Vega. One second I'm going to bed by myself and dreading getting up for work in the morning, and the next I'm waking up to..to..this." She waved her hand uncomfortably and bit her lip.

Vega finally let her go and took a step back. She caught the glint off of his silver wedding ring in the weak lamp light as his hands returned to his sides. Apparently he wasn't just playing a joke on her.

He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest, mainly to ward off the chilly air permeating the room. "You don't remember that we've been married for over eight years? Or that we have a four year old son? Or that you quit the force to become a private detective?"

She sucked in a ragged breath at his words. Quit the force? She loved her work. Another child? That was almost unfathomable to her, she hadn't ever wanted any more children. And married to him? She was beginning to feel a little dizzy, seemingly not able to comprehend what he was telling her.

She stumbled a little, and Vega was at her side immediately, steering her towards the edge of the bed. "I..I..think I'm going to pass o-" she flopped down onto her back, out cold, before she could finish her sentence.

OOOOOO

Flynn woke to a bright light shining in her face. She groaned and brought her hands up to massage her temples. She had a massive headache, and wondered why she was feeling this way as she craned her neck to look at the time and cracked her eyelids open. All she could see was a blinding white light, so she quickly shut them again and turned onto her side with another pained groan.

That's when she remembered her odd dream. It _had _just been a dream, she was sure of it. When she was finally able to open her eyes the entire way, she sat up slowly and blinked until her vision cleared. Things were different than what she remembered, something was still off.

She stood up a little unsteadily and let out a little scream when a little boy, almost a spitting image of Vega all the way down to the unruly hair, came running into her room and launched himself at her legs. "Mommy, mommy, Santa came! Come look!" Before she could answer, he let go of her and bounded out of the bedroom.

She looked down at herself and saw that she was dressed in the same clothes she remembered dressing in before all this madness happened, but that was the only thing that was the same. She must be going crazy. Maybe she was injured on the job and was in a coma or something equally as horrifying.

She spotted her robe on the back of a chair and quickly put it on, tying the belt as tightly as she could before slipping her feet into her slippers, which were also familiar to her.

When she heard the little boy calling out for her again, she sighed loudly and walked out of the bedroom and towards where she knew they would be. She reached the end of the hallway and almost smiled at the sight in front of her. The little boy was dressed as a fireman and was running around the couch with a little toy firetruck clutched in his tiny hand.

Vega, _her husband_, was sitting on the couch, no long naked from the waist up (fortunately, or maybe unfortunately; she couldn't decide), with his back to her. He laughed and turned to look at her when the little boy, _Jericho_, she reminded herself, stopped and smiled at her. "Look what Santa brought me, Mommy! I look like a real fireman now!"

Flynn stepped fully into the room and tried to smile. "That's great..er..buddy." She closed her eyes in embarrassment at how stupid and awkward she sounded. It had been so long since she had dealt with a child this young.

Jericho didn't seem to notice anything amiss and resumed running around the room making fire engine sounds. Vega raised his eyebrows and patted the cushion next to her in invitation.

As she chewed on the inside of her cheek, she debated what to do. She could either make a scene, or pretend that nothing was wrong. If not for Vega, then for the little boy running around like he won the lottery.

She hesitantly walked around the couch and sat down next to Vega. Close enough that she could feel his body heat, but not close enough to touch him. She hadn't ever really thought of Vega as husband material. He had been her best friend for years, and she had never tried to explore any other possibilities with him because she didn't want to ruin their friendship. But now that that possibility was staring her in the face, she found that she didn't find the idea as uncomfortable as she probably should have.

Vega was a good man, and judging by how he interacted with the little boy, he was a good father too. Not to mention that he was very good looking; she had always thought that, but never allowed herself to think of anything beyond his looks.

Her internal musings were interrupted by a hand on her arm. "Are you ok, Angie?"

She winced; one problem at a time. "Could you get me some Tylenol please? I have a pounding headache."

He furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something, but he just as quickly closed it again as he nodded and stood to find her some medication. She watched the little boy in fascination as she waited for him to return.

After a minute or two, he sat back down on the couch and handed her a glass of water and two pills. She gave him a closed mouth smile in thanks and quickly downed the pills, the cool water soothing her throat. When she didn't say anything for a long time, Vega finally turned his head and said, "I'm assuming what happened this morning is still happening?"

She sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry, Vega."

He quirked his mouth a little and ran a hand through his graying beard (another thing she loved on him). "I just don't understand what's going on. You were fine when we went to sleep after we made-" he stopped and cleared his throat, embarrassed, "You didn't act like anything was wrong," he finished lamely.

She blushed at his insinuation and looked back towards the little boy, now on the floor playing with another toy from Santa, so she didn't have to look Vega in the eye.

"I'm just as confused as you are. Probably more so."

"My parents are supposed to be here in a couple of hours, do you want me to call and tell them not to come?"

She glanced at him and saw that he clearly didn't want to do that. She knew that he loved his parents dearly and only got to see them once or twice a year. At least in her reality.

Flynn crossed her arms and shook her head. "No, we'll figure something out. We can pretend everything's ok for a couple of hours, then we can figure out how to make everything right again."

A flash of hurt crossed his features, but before she could take her foot out of her mouth, he spoke again. "I..thank you, Ang."

She nodded and patted his thigh near his knee. "You know I would do anything for you, even if we're in the Twilight Zone."

This time she managed to coax a full-blown smile out of him before he turned back to their son. "Are you ready to open your presents, little man?"

Jericho jumped up, his other toys forgotten as he ran over to the tree and picked up the first gift he came to. "Bring it here, son, that one's for your mother."

Surprised, Flynn took the proffered gift from Jericho and set it on her lap to open it. The two boys watched her in silence as she ripped the festive paper and opened the white box. She smiled widely as she pulled a silver mother's bracelet with one charm hanging from it out of the velvet cushioning. "It's beautiful. Thank you, both of you." She didn't want to sound ungrateful and refuse it, plus she needed practice pretending that this wasn't all new to her; but she did feel distinctly uncomfortable as Vega took the bracelet from her and helped her put it on, his warm fingers brushing her skin, making the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

After he retreated back into his own space, she brought her wrist up and admired the jewelery. It was obviously expensive, and there was room for more charms to be clipped on. Did that mean that alternate!Flynn and Vega were planning on having more children? She still had a hard time picturing even one, let alone two or three.

She didn't voice any of these thoughts though as she watched Jericho and Vega open the rest of the presents. She was given a couple of practical things like a new robe and blouse, and she had apparently given Vega a new tie and shoes. He had smiled widely and leaned over to kiss her when he saw the shoes, but he stopped at the last moment when he saw the look in her eyes and pulled away reluctantly. She sighed again quietly. What if things never went back to normal? Would she grow to love Vega and their son, or were they doomed to have her as a wife and mother who didn't really know them?

She toyed with her bracelet to distract herself and watched as Jericho gathered all of his toys and clothes up and put them in a pile on the couch, then he picked up his firetruck and ran down the hallway, closing what she assumed to be his bedroom door with a slam.

Flynn let out a relieved breath and sank into the cushions. She was already exhausted and it was early yet. She rolled her head to look at Vega and saw that he had his phone out and was texting someone. She didn't feel like it was her business to ask who he was talking to, but she _was _his wife, so she asked anyway. "Who are you texting?"

His fingers paused as he looked at her. "My parents. They'll be here in an hour for brunch."

Flynn shot up from the couch with a panicked look. "An hour? Nothing's ready, and I'm guessing you know I'm a terrible cook, and the house is a mess and-"

He cut her off mid-sentence, "Relax, sweetheart, the already know you don't cook. They're bringing everything. We just have to provide the table and drinks. We've been married long enough that they understand." He smiled up at her, his hair endearingly ruffled, then looked back at his phone and resumed typing.

She sank to the couch, suddenly light-headed with relief. If she had been expected to cook she would have given away their secret just so she could get out of it. She burned everything she touched; it had always been that way.

"Well, um..is it ok if I shower then?"

He nodded absently, absorbed in his conversation, so she stood up and walked back to her, _their, _bedroom. Once the door was shut and locked, she walked into the closet and began to search for appropriate "brunch" clothing. She finally found a nice pair of black slacks and a blue blouse, then turned to walk out when Vega's side of the closet caught her eye.

He always dressed nice, and apparently this Vega was no different. She reached a hand up and fingered the sleeve of one of his tailored suits, then leaned forward to see if he smelled the same that she remembered. He did of course, and she smiled at that little bit of familiarity. At least some things stayed the same.

She walked out, clothes in hand, before she could be discovered sniffing his things and hurried into the bathroom. Making sure to lock the door behind her before turning the water on.

She had to hurry if she didn't want to be late for her "In-laws" arrival.

OOOOOO

An hour later found Flynn sandwiched between Vega and his dad, Edgar, on the couch. When they had first arrived, they had been enthusiastic in their greeting of her and Jericho; they clearly loved their only grandchild, and judging by the number of gifts they brought along, they spoiled him rotten. Vega's mother, Manuela, was a warm woman with a happy disposition that instantly drew Flynn in. She instantly liked both of them, especially since both of her parents were gone. The Vega's were a happy couple, anyone could see that, and they didn't seem to sense that anything was amiss; which was a huge relief to Flynn.

As Vega caught up with his parents, and Jericho played with his toys on the floor, Flynn continually found herself distracted by his thigh that was pressed against hers. It was solid and warm, and whenever she let herself think about it, she felt the beginnings of something she didn't think was possible after Cross. And it scared her.

A warm hand covered hers, distracting her from her terrifying thoughts, and she looked up to see everyone looking at her. Flynn blinked and tried to smile. "Sorry, I was..thinking abo- what did you say?"

Vega squeezed her hand and smiled. "My mother was asking about your job." He smiled again, but the look in his eye was a clear warning to tread carefully; he kept his hand in hers.

Angie plastered on a fake smile, turned to look at his mom and waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, it's pretty boring. Nothing like how it was at the precinct, I don't want to bore you with the details."

Vega squeezed her hand again in approval, but his mother had different ideas. "Oh, honey, of course we're interested. You don't have any interesting stories to tell us?"

Flynn opened her mouth to decline, but Vega saved her by glancing at his watch in his free hand and interrupting her. "It's getting late, I think we're all pretty hungry."

He didn't give his parents a chance to answer as he stood up and pulled her up too, missing the odd look they were giving him at his abrupt change of subject.

Flynn trailed after Vega into the kitchen and watched as he pulled out plates and glasses and set them on the counter. She walked over to the bags of food without comment and began to take them out, listening to his parents talk to Jericho in the living room.

She glanced over her shoulder to make sure they weren't listening, then turned back to Vega and said in a low voice, "I can tell they think something is wrong."

He put both of his hands on the counter and leaned closer to her. "Well there's nothing we can do but get through the next hour or so. Just let me do most of the talking, and if they ask if something is wrong, I'll tell them you aren't feeling well. They might even suspect that you're pregnant."

She blushed profusely, much to her chagrin, and he chuckled and winked at her before he left to herd the group into the kitchen.

Once she was sure the redness was gone from her face, she turned and sat down at the table as everyone walked in. Flynn couldn't help the flutter in her chest as she took in Vega rolling up his shirtsleeves as he slowly made his way back into the kitchen behind his mother. No one had the right to look that good, not even her "husband".

For the next hour, Flynn busied herself with feeding and looking after Jericho as Vega steered the conversation away from anything potentially dangerous, and by the end of the meal she was feeling confident that they had pulled the deception off without his parents suspecting anything.

She let Jericho out of his booster chair and stood up to follow him when his mother grabbed her hand. Flynn cursed mentally and tried to smile as she looked down at the soft, brown eyes of Manuela Vega. "Angie, are you feeling ok? You look a little peeked."

"Oh, I..I think I'm coming down with something. I haven't been feeling well since I woke up this morning." Which wasn't far from the truth at all.

Manuela smiled conspiratorially and winked. "Are you pregnant?"

The blush came back in full force as Vega protested from next to her. "Mother, I don't think that's anyone's business but our own."

Manuela laughed and released Flynn's hand. "I knew it!"

Horrified, Flynn mumbled a quick excuse and fled the room before she gave anything away. As she left, she could hear Vega trying to dissuade his mother from her erroneous conclusion. As much as Flynn tried not to think about what getting pregnant by Vega entailed, she failed miserably. She just hoped this little fantasy didn't last much longer or she might do something horrible, like actually fall in love with the man.

But no, she couldn't do that. She was happy being single. She really was.

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><p><strong>AN: Part two coming soon! Please let me know what you think. :)<strong>


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